The research involves study of the development of a traditionally female subsistence farming system in the context of increased opportunities for the commercialisation of food crops. The precise way in which women take advantage of the growing market for their products depends on the total economic context of both male and female activities, and social structural variables. The study proposed is a comparison of the sexual divison of the local economy in two villages of the Eton ethnic group, within 30 km of the Camerounian capital of Yaounde. One village is relatively inaccessible because of poor communications which limit involvement in the marketing of perishable commodities. The other is well-situated on a major route, passable in all seasons, allowing easy access to the growing markets of the capital. I will concentrate particularly on the effects of new opportunities in the production and trade of food on the sexual division of labor and the structure of traditiona dependency relationships of women on men.